Layla

CIA Base Part 3

March 16, 1962 

(9:00 pm)

"I don't want to go to bed," Pietro whined as he lay under the sheets of his bed. "I want to stay up until Papa gets back."

Layla sighed. Erik had said goodbye to Pietro before leaving, telling him he would be back before he knew it. He had looked up at his papa with such love and adoration that it had nearly reduced Layla to tears all over again. She knew it had to end. This was going to end. She just prayed it would end before the summer began. 

A dead man was not something to be celebrated... but for once Layla looked forward to the death of another person. It meant her husband would come back to her and that her husband would be fully hers again. They could go home and everything could go back to normal. No more of this running country to country trying to find a madman, no, they would be a normal family again. 

Maybe not in Frankfurt, maybe not even in Munich, but somewhere they would settle down and be happy and normal together. Pietro would get to grow up with the love of both of his parents always being there for him. If he manifested abilities like theirs or not, she didn't care so long as she got to see him grow up into a healthy, happy young man. 

Before Layla could tell Pietro that Erik wasn't coming back tonight, a knock sounded from the closed door. The metal door would have just been opened by her husband with a simple flick of the wrist he would have the lock undone. This was someone else, and for their sake, they better be prepared to deal with the consequences.

Layla kissed her son's forehead before getting up from her kneeled position to walk to the door. She reached out with her mind to detect if the person was going to be taken control of. When she found no minds she knew it was Charles, the telepath. They seemed to be resistant to both of each other's abilities, or perhaps he was merely lying and reading her mind this very moment. 

She opened the door to find the young man with a small grin on his face, wearing a blue sweater. He seemed to be happy to see her. Which was certainly not the same feeling she felt towards him. She was more annoyed with his presence than anything else. She wanted to put her son to bed so she could read the fashion magazine the CIA had been kind enough to supply her with before bed. 

"What is it?" Layla asked before the young man could interrupt her train of thought. 

He didn't take it as an insult, just kept smiling that oddly handsome smile. 

"Can I come in?" Charles asked as he made a motion to enter. "I need to talk to you about something important." 

"Can it wait till morning?" She asked. "I'm trying to get my son to sleep." 

"I'm afraid not love," Charles admitted as he made his way into her quarters without her permission. 

Pietro, just as confused as his mother, looked up from his spot pouting on the bed to the young man who had entered their room. He looked just as flustered as she was as he sat up and asked Charles what he was doing in their room. Maybe he did want to go to sleep after all? 

"I needed to speak to you in private Layla," Charles stated as he looked to Pietro. "If it's all right with you Pietro?"

"What?" Pietro asked as he looked at Charles. "I want to go to sleep." 

Layla, still standing there with her mouth agape looking at the young man as if he was crazy for entering her quarters without so much as an explanation, approached her son swiftly. She was not about to abandon her son to speak to Charles about god knows what at god only knows what time it was now. She needed him to be asleep so she could go to sleep in peace.